


Pahimakas

by luckyferrero



Category: Bloodbound (Visual Novels), Choices: Stories You Play
Genre: Angst, Canon-related, Challenge Entry, Choices February Challenge, Coffee, Coffee Shop, F/M, Heartbreak, New York, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Post-Break Up, Reunion, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyferrero/pseuds/luckyferrero
Summary: Four years. For the likes of them, four years should only feel like a brief moment in their lives.But the past four years were nothing fleeting.
Relationships: Adrian Raines/Katrina Carson, Adrian Raines/Main Character (Bloodbound)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Pahimakas

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was my Day 15 entry for the Choices February Challenge in Tumblr. Despite my summary, this actually takes six years after the events of Book 3 (including the exclusive scene when you complete the painting). You'll just have to see why there's a mention of four years!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic!

**Pahimakas** _ (n.) last farewell _

It was a Friday night, and they found themselves in a coffee shop outside Central Park. Katrina had been there a couple of times, for multiple reasons. It was mainly because of Adrian inviting her for a short coffee date before they go their separate ways for the day. It was partially destroyed when Gaius wreaked havoc in the city, again when Rheya single-handedly did the same, but was quickly restored after her defeat. Since then, it had run its usual course, as did the rest of the city.

They planned to meet there right after sunset, when the sun had finally sunk to the bottom of the horizon. Between the two, Adrian was the first to arrive as he lived closer to the shop. Katrina arrived five minutes later. He bought her a drink before looking for a spot, eventually finding one by the window. 

They had been chatting, sharing a few laughs here and there, not worrying about the time. The night was young, with the moon only a bright sliver of gray against the dark expanse of the sky, and the stars missing from all the city lights. There was no sign of the sun, and there wouldn’t be for a while. It felt like the night could go on forever, and they could stay in that moment for as long as they please. Every night felt like that, anyway. For the likes of them, forever was everywhere. It was in the years that never showed in their faces, and it was in the seconds that were always spent too carelessly.

She took a moment to look out onto the world outside the coffee shop. Despite everything that has happened, it seemed as though New York hadn’t changed. There were new buildings, of course, but they stood as though they had never been engulfed in flames  _ twice _ . The people were living as though their lives were never threatened by power-hungry vampires. All these changes were made, yet the concrete jungle was still standing tall, without a single hint of the inferno it had momentarily become. 

He took this moment to look at her. There she was, sitting across him, her hands delicately wrapped around her coffee mug. Of course, as a vampire, her beauty never faltered. She still looked like when they first met in his conference room, with the most beautiful dark brown eyes and rose-colored lips. The only thing new was her hair, which she had now cut up to the length of her shoulders.

He noticed that she was observing the life outside, and he admired her for it. She was always so curious about the world, and this curiosity grew further when she became a vampire. “Looking for something?” She turned to him, her eyes wide with embarrassment. She apologized. “I was just thinking about something.” She said, a chuckle following right after. He raised an eyebrow.

“May I know?” She smiled, but softly, as though something was hiding underneath that smile of hers. “I just…” she sighed, “this is really what it’s like now, being a vampire and all.”

Confusion ran across his mind. “What is?”

“Growing older without even aging at all, waking up tomorrow to find that you’re still who you were yesterday, all that kind of stuff.” She had a point, and he wasn’t going to deny that.

“I understand.” He said, and somehow, a gentle wave of comfort washed over her. “I felt that way too, you know.” She scoffed.

“Of course, you did.” He glared at her with playful annoyance, asking her what she meant by that, and she laughed. “I just mean that you’ve had your fair share of being so…” she tapped her cheek with a finger as she thought of the right word, “…sentimental.” 

His eyes grew wide with appalment, then he sighed right after. “You’re…not wrong.” She chuckled, and he followed suit, looking at her with a sudden kind of feeling he couldn’t quite name. It brought a subtle ache in his chest, and a little dance of familiarity on his tongue.

As she took another sip of her drink, she noticed that they had grown silent, and began to contemplate about them. There was something about the moment, however mundane it was, that felt special for her. And with the way he was looking at her, solemnly and thoughtfully, she knew that he must be thinking similarly. She lingered on it for a while, biting her bottom lip as she realized what she was feeling. What  _ they _ were feeling.

“I missed this.” She said quietly, almost as a whisper, but the words were as clear as crystal as it rang through his ears. He knew what she meant, and felt his cheeks warm up.

“Me too.”

Her eyes lit up and glimmered as they stared into his own. “And I’ve missed you.”

He smiled softly. “I’ve missed you too.” 

But his smile soon faded, and she didn’t say anything in return. Much to their dismay, they both knew where the conversation was headed. They knew who they were to each other, where they were in each other’s lives. They shared the silence laid upon them, looking at each other in the eye as reality settled in them like dust in an abandoned room. “We’re really having  _ this _ talk, huh?” She asked, trying to ease up the tension. 

And it worked  _ somehow _ . Adrian chuckled, nodding. “It’s  _ sort of _ why I invited you for coffee.” She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” He nodded again.

“And you waited until it was,” she checked her phone, “eleven o’clock in the evening?” He shrugged, and she scoffed.

“We  _ did  _ do a lot of catching up, Katrina. It’s been four years, after all.” Her eyes grew wide in shock, causing him to feel a strain of concern rush through him. “Are you alright?” She blinked for a couple of times, before a subtle smile appeared on her lips. “Yeah…” She shook her head, her smile growing absentmindedly. “It’s just…it  _ really _ has been four years, huh?” He smiled, and nodded. “Doesn’t feel like it, right?”

She nodded, thinking about how those four years have really been for her. Looking back at everything, those years flew so quickly, but she also knew that it was quite the opposite when she was living through it. “Hey.”

“Hmm?” She turned to find his expression once again serious, “what happened to us?” She sighed, knowing that he wasn’t really asking, because they both knew exactly what happened. “Those two years we had together…we were happy, Katrina.”

“That’s the thing, isn’t it?” She stared blankly at the window; her voice somber. “We  _ were _ happy, and that was because we found each other.” He kept himself quiet as he watched her, listening as she spoke. “Two years of going through the thick and thin. Two years where we were there for each other,  _ always there _ .” She scoffed, finishing the rest of her drink, before leaning against her seat with a sigh that left her lips.

“But we still hung on to our pasts, clutching the pain so close to ourselves with one hand as we held each other with the other.” It was the truth, and it hit them like a freight train. “Because we  _ felt  _ safe on the promise that we can always depend on each other.” His gaze fell onto their fingers that were only inches apart, still listening to her skin-piercing words of truth.

“And we did, relentlessly and selfishly,  _ hinged _ on the belief that there will always be another tomorrow to spend in seeking comfort from someone other than ourselves. I was chasing happiness from you, and you from me, that by the end—”

“we weren’t happy anymore.” Their eyes met, finding pain written all over them. Nothing else was said after those last words left his lips. It had been four years since they broke up, but the wounds reopened, suddenly feeling fresh as if it had just happened the night before.  _ Two people, two hearts, broken once more. _

Minutes were spent in silence, with a thick and heavy feeling of awkward tension between them, until Adrian reached out to hold her hand. She watched him silently, seeing that his features never changed. Of course, he was a vampire. He was still beautiful, and he still had those beautiful grey eyes that always looked at her with solemnity.

But they hid as he looked at his fingers, now intertwined with hers. She felt him squeeze her hand ever so slightly, before letting go of it as he stood up. “Shall I walk you back to your apartment?” He asked. She was still on her seat, silently telling herself not to cry. She didn’t want to create a fuss in the coffee shop, and she didn’t want Adrian to know how much  _ it _ still affected her. Without looking up at him, she nodded, gathering her things as she stood up. Their eyes didn’t meet as they left the shop.

They walked slowly, side-by-side with that undeniable tension returning between them. Neither said a word, letting the noise of the city ring in their ears as they tried their hardest to focus on anything else. But still, their thoughts lingered on the person walking next to them.

Four years. For the likes of them, four years should only feel like a brief moment in their lives. Between the two of them, Adrian knew this better. He had been around for almost three centuries, seen the world evolve countless times. To him, four years should’ve felt like a blink of an eye, or lighting bolting through the sky. But the past four years were nothing fleeting. Time seemed to slow down when she was no longer in his life, when she was no longer the first thing he sees after he wakes up, or the last before he falls asleep.

Before they knew it, they were standing in front of her building. He remembered the countless times he walked her to this very building, when the days felt peaceful amid impending dooms. Those were the days that he cherished greatly because, despite everything, they had each other. 

And for the first time since she spoke of their bitter reality in the coffee shop, they looked at each other. “I can go up with you.” He said, and she shook her head politely. “I’ll be okay,” the smile that bloomed on her face was soft and subtle, “thank you.”

He returned the gesture. “Of course.” He said. “It was great seeing you again.”

Her smile grew. “Likewise.”

They stayed like that for a moment, before pulling each other into an embrace. No one knew who initiated it, and no one cared. They were going to savor the moment until it was over, because neither of them knew if they were going to share another moment like this ever again. She rested her head on the crook of his neck, and he rested his cheek against hers.

For the likes of them, forever was everywhere. It was in the years they had spent apart, and it was the seconds they had left together. And as they stood there, with their arms around each other, they shared a thought. She didn’t need to read his mind, and he didn’t need to have her powers. 

They both shared a truth, that they still loved each other,

_ even if they have fallen out of love _ .

Without any words uttered, they pulled away and knew their night was officially over. They both understood what was to come next. They took their first steps back, hers towards the main doors of her apartment building, his towards the way back to Raines Corp. Sharing their last smile, they said,

“Goodbye, Katrina.” 

“Goodbye, Adrian.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are, thank you so much for stopping by! As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
